Blogging For Dollars: Not So Easy

For starters, I haven’t made one dollar from blogging. This is considered a major failure by many but not to me. More on that in a minute.

The main reason I haven’t made money from blogging is because I find myself at odds with the “make money online” mindset. Many (but not all) marketers in this so-called niche are not actually trying to help you make money, they’re helping themselves make money by selling you something to believe in.

Does “$250,000 per year or more by working just a couple hours per day” sound realistic? This is an actual quote. What part of your psyche do these outlandish offers appeal to?

Any experienced blogger will tell you this claim is next to impossible. Perhaps a tiny fraction of one percent of the population will achieve this–but not likely you or me.

But seeing I wasn’t experienced at the time, and I needed to make money, I fell for it. I purchased the books, subscribed to a cleverly packaged blog training program (it admittedly contains good blogging fundamentals) and followed the masses who were sold the same manufactured dream.

Tempering the Marketer Mindset

Why has marketing become such a ridiculous obsession on the internet? Doesn’t it seem there’s more marketing of things than there are things?

The first months of blogging for me were turbulent. I was trying too hard to sound like an expert—someone to be trusted with other people’s time, attention and money. I lost my voice.

Without a genuine voice, I was becoming nothing more than a hollow marketer.

The first epiphany I had after these initial rough patches helped me embrace publishing for publishing sake. I linked up with colleagues with the same pedigree as me: writers and journalists from the print world who—despite being caught in the crosshairs of a crumbling industry—stood by and defended their editorial integrity.

The truth about blogging and any type of content marketing is this: the content comes before the marketing.

The content is where you’ll find the value. Each and every time. Marketing of course is important, but only if you have something of value to market.

Have Vision, Will Work

So how did blogging change my life in one year?

For starters, I’m no longer under the impression that blogging exists to make money. Money is a by-product of content that’s been fined-tuned for its market.

I’ve also gotten well-educated. I’ve learned that blogging cannot exist without design, platforms (like Wordpress), social marketing, SEO and content strategy. These are all subjects I had no choice but to learn about along the way.

Best of all, I have a vision and a plan for the future of Wordful: commercially branded content. And if you’ve been reading the past couple of moths, you’ll get a sense of what I’m shooting for.

Now the real work begins. Over the next year, Wordful will be focused on leading impassioned communities online. Details on this are forthcoming.

This blog will remain the think tank and conversation hub of my adventures. For you, dear reader, this means more thoughtful, real-world lessons on content marketing, editorial strategy and 21st Century publishing.

Aloha!

Why do I want we need to attend the Social Media Success Summit 2009 (SMSS09)?

Here’s why:

Our businesses can’t grow without social media.

A blog is a business that requires two components to succeed: content and marketing. If we focus on one and not the other, we’ll amount to nothing more than: a) content slave, or b) wannabe social media expert (both options really suck, by the way).

For example, I’ve been laboring on this blog for 8 months now. I’ve gone from scared, skeptical newbie to committed, confident blogger, and I’m proud of my progress. Every morning at 4:30 I roll out of bed and start another day of writing killer flagship content, and I love it.

But writing is not enough. Despite my content efforts, my blog barely makes a blip on the blogosphere radar. Why is this? Because I don’t have a social media strategy! [And I need one, Chris.]

Most of us aren’t leveraging social media.

If you’re like me, you probably tweet a lot. Conversations and connections are quick and enjoyable and the people are nice. But do you have a viable Twitter strategy? [Hey Chris--I don't have a Twitter strategy yet, but I'll sure have one after you send me to SMSS09.]

Perhaps you also have a Facebook page and a LinkedIn account. Maybe even some other social networking accounts like FriendFeed, Tumblr, likaholix and chi.mp. Did you just open those accounts with good intentions but never followed through on utilizing them (like me)?

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a social media newbie. I enjoy using Twitter to talk to cool people, but that’s about it.

Most of us know social media is a great tool, but the truth is we don’t really know how to use it. So what not a better opportunity to learn than the Social Media Success Summit 2009? [Isn't that right, Chris?]

There will be real social media experts on hand.

Just let the names speak for themselves: Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, Chris Garrett and Gary Vaynerchuk, among others. Need I say more?

Timing is everything.

There’s no better time to start leveraging social media than right now. We’re on the eve of a great Internet Gold Rush, and we all should be poised with the right tools and mindset to prosper.

And with social media being a huge part of that prosperity, doesn’t attending SMSS09 seem like a no-brainer?

One of the big benefits of social media to bloggers is the convenience of it all. There’s nothing to buy and nothing to wait for: we can start self-marketing immediately and still have time to produce high-quality content.

However, what’s holding many of us back from really diving into social media is the lack of organized and credible resources to learn how to use it. We don’t have the time or energy to spend gathering all the free advice and testing out which works best: we want the experts to show us how, right now.

[So Chris, it only makes sense you award me the Grand Prize right now so me and a friend can start learning right away!]

We’re ready to lead.

I know I’m ready to lead. Are you?

I’m ready to stick myself out there and rally people around my ideas. Get them excited and inspired to learn and engage and move forward.  And make good friends along the way.

If it weren’t for social media, quasi-hermits (like me) would still be hunched over the keyboard in desolation. Write, edit, post, wait for comments. Write, edit, post wait for comments. Repeat, all day, every day, until I give up. That’s no way to blog.

Like you, dear reader, I’ve set high expectations for my blog. I wanna take it to the top. But there’s no way that’s going to happen if someone doesn’t give me a hand with my social media strategy. And that’s where SMSS09 and Chris Garrett come in, at least I hope…